Home comforts the order of the day for Prescott with Tiffany this weekend For many Tiffany’s Keeneland swansong would be an equine American dream. But for trainer Sir Mark Prescott, the final salvos of her glittering career will take place in front of a TV screen from the comfort of his Newmarket home. Once a perennial bridesmaid on both the domestic and international scene, a little Heath House wizardry has ensured the Elite Racing-owned six-year-old will bow out a globetrotting star ready to mix it with the best middle-distance performers around in a stellar Breeders’ Cup Turf. Prescott said: “All the superstars have emerged, but she’s in great form and for whatever reason seems to have improved this year at the age of six. “William (Butler, long-standing assistant) is going over and I will be supervising from home in my pyjamas. “Who knows why she has improved, but she has and it’s great. She’s remarkable for Elite and when you think Elite have produced the likes of her, Marsha, Ribbons and Soviet Song, who are all Group One-winning fillies from seven or eight mates, it’s an extraordinary thing really. “It’s a wonderful trip for those Elite owners who have a long-lost cousin in America or don’t mind the airfare and a way of getting there. There’s a lot of them going and what an advertisement she would be for racehorse ownership if she could win or get placed.” German Breakthrough and American Riches Tiffany had finished second five times on the bounce – three of those occasions at the highest level – before at long last breaking her Group One account in Germany earlier this year. She then supplemented that success when downing last year’s Turf champion Ethical Diamond on her maiden voyage Stateside, picking up just shy of £1million in the Kentucky Turf Cup – just reward for Elite’s decision to roll the dice and put their trust in Prescott to make one final season in training count. “She beat last year’s winner last time in America so she’s entitled to be there and it’s her swansong,” continued Prescott, whose exemplary record with older mares stands the test of time. “When a horse has been second four times in Group Ones, then it becomes a great relief when they eventually win one. Patience Rewarded After Sales Rejection “The owners got offered the money after the sales last year and said, ‘no, we’ll stick with it’, and there bravery has to be commended – I couldn’t say it at the time, I wasn’t convinced it was a good idea, but they have turned out absolutely right. “You never know where her improvement has come from and if they had sold her last year and she’d gone to a new trainer and done what she has done you would be scratching your head thinking, ‘what did I do wrong, I’ve had her five years, where’s my Group One and $1million race in America’. “We have been very lucky with the mares we have kept in training, the likes of Marsha, Alborada, Albanova and Alpinista. It’s extraordinary how well they do if people are willing to persist with them.” While victory at Kentucky Downs came at a track Prescott frequently referred to as America’s version of Bath, the final act of Tiffany’s on-track endeavours will come in the more conventional Stateside surroundings of Keeneland before once again going under the hammer at Tattersalls in December. And it would be somewhat fitting for a horse primed in the beating heartland of British racing by a master of his craft to bring the curtain down in a region of horse excellence as the Bluegrass state. Tactical Blueprint for Keeneland Test “The track suited her last time because she’s adaptable and straightforward and I suppose the draw will become important,” explained Prescott assessing Tiffany’s Turf credentials. “But she will be ridden very conventionally and you hope a few of the superstars might get themselves in a tangle in behind. “Marsha got beat a length and a half at Del Mar (in 2017), it felt further, and she ran well without ever looking like she would win. It would be great if Tiffany could better Marsha’s effort, but I don’t suppose she’ll then go on to make six million at the sales like Marsha did. “I suppose she’s got more sex appeal now after her wins this year, who knows after Keeneland, with a bit of luck she might just have that little bit more.” He went on: “We’ll miss Tiffany and (stablemate) Consent when they are gone, they worked the other morning and it was a foul, dark morning and I thought it will be even more dreary next year without them. “As a trainer it lifts your heart when you are watching 60-rated horses battle up the gallop and then horses like them come winging by showing all their class. You just get back into the old Toyota feeling perkier.”
